Daily Times Reader Panel members weigh in on the pros and cons of freely flowing ‘fake news’ reports.

Fake news is definitely not free speech, in my opinion. Facts are facts – and that can’t be changed.

As far as I’m concerned, fake news is just another form of gossip that can be damaging. Once the fake news is published (via social media or newscasts) it creates havoc and can be hurtful for whomever it targets. And the bad part is it can’t be retracted. It has already done the damage.

Today, the media just wants to report anything that will create chaos and cause disruption in people’s lives. Intentionally contributing to fake news is a form of abuse.

People in power have to be very careful to speak factually rather than saying what people want to hear. Actions speak louder than words.

With the invention of modern technology, people have to be careful and check their facts. Nothing can be assumed to be a legitimate source anymore.

Rose Carey

Delmar

Not all words constitute free speech

This is a true conundrum. We know the courts have ruled that crying “fire” in a theater is not free speech. We must apply the same rule to those who cry out falsely on social media or the news media.

Sometimes we have to protect ourselves from ourselves. In other words, we live in a bubble where NFL/NBA game scores are most important on the minds of many folks.

We elected a pathological liar, scam artist and con man to become our commander in chief. Missing on the menu is an attempt to actually try and discern real facts – instead of accepting emotional shouts of bigoted nonsense from a man who appearsd to adore a dictator instead of the sacredness of our Constitution.

Free speech should be cherished as a right. Blatant lying and bullying to misrepresent what is actually factual, however, is not free speech and thus, must be unacceptable.

Geoff Smoot

Hebron

Hard to tell the difference nowadays

Who knows what fake or real news is anymore; journalism has dramatically changed since the Watergate days.

Speech is free per our Constitution. Do I agree all the time with what is said or how it is said? No!

I guess the alternative is to allow government officials to decide what is free or not free speech – not a good idea.

How do we keep hidden bias out of the news? Plenty of scam news sites going around and even the so called “real news” throws a few fact-less opinions around.

Personally, I like to see the facts – even the unpopular facts – and in turn, make my own decisions. We need to remember that news is a business and has to pay the bills.

In our fast-paced, unforgiving world, we must stay informed.

Take the time to get the facts and decide for yourself.

Carl Crumbacker Sr.

Eden

An uninformed electorate is more dangerous

Fake news has permeated this entire election cycle. But to me, the bigger detriment is an uninformed electorate.

People read a title of an article and share it – or they’ll comment on an article without reading it.

People need to take the time to be informed, to check sources and to make sure the information they’re sharing is valid.

This is the problem with a society so invested in and enamored by reality TV. Sure, I enjoy reality TV when I want a mindless distraction, but I acknowledge how far from ‘reality’ it actually is.

Sensationalism sells. It’s up to individuals to make sure they are sharing factual information.

Jackie Wellfonder

Salisbury

Fake news is both dangerous and protected

“Fake news” is both a danger and protected speech.

Freedom of speech, particularly political speech involving public officials, is the most protected speech under the First Amendment.

Intentional lies, like much of Donald Trump’s tweets, tabloid news or distorted presentations of events are all protected speech – and should be.

Individual freedom entails speaking your mind about public affairs.

Nonetheless, lies or misinformed speech in the public arena are destructive because they distort reality and may lead us to a misunderstanding of reality.

For example, stories that present global warming as a “Chinese hoax,” if believed, lead one to conclude no serious reduction of fossil fuel consumption is necessary.

Carl Sagan, the famous astronomer and scientist, suggested a “baloney detection kit” listing a number of “rules of thumb” by which we can detect and discard lousy claims.

We can and should believe in reasoned, evidence-news but reject irrational accounts of events.

Michael O’Loughlin

Salisbury

Fake news an absolute danger

Fake news is an absolute danger to free speech, because it misconstrues that free speech is more than propaganda for advertisement.

It also undermines your typical journalist or columnist working to research their topics, conduct interviews with certain people, type an article, revise it, and get their art published.

Real journalism is art that informs people about real issues going on and the detail about them.

Real journalism invokes being the voice of and for “the people.” It’s not just trying to sell a product or advertise a business.

Sure, that’s a part of life where people have money to make and businesses to advocate. However, let’s not forget news was made to inform people about what’s going in in society.

John Livengood

University of Maryland Eastern Shore senior

Laurel, Maryland

We must exercise a degree of skepticism

The simple answer is yes – to both.

Giving an old problem a formal name makes for an interesting dialogue. Far too many people assume anything that comes to them electronically must be true and believable. Same comment goes for other media options as well.

With an ever-increasing number of people broadcasting stories or statements or whatever, we, in general, have yet to realize that anything we hear or read has to be received with some skepticism – less so if we know or have reason to trust the source of the comments.

Also, in any conversation, I know what I mean to say – but I have no control over how you might interpret or receive what I have said.

I can but hope that your constructs have allowed you to receive what I had in mind when I said or otherwise conveyed it.

To retrieve a statement from the past: “Trust but verify.”

Dick Taeuber

Salisbury

Censorship is the greater danger

The real danger is censorship! Who would be making the call on “fake news?”

According to Hillary Clinton, that would be a bipartisan panel. Sounds like an assault on the First Amendment to me.

And no, Hillary, “fake news” didn’t lose the election for you. You lost the election because you don’t relate to the ordinary citizen. Perfect example, you come out of hiding to talk about fake news – not something important, such as the Dakota pipeline or the slaughter of children in Syria.

During the election season, I read news from online sources that are sometimes labeled “fake news” and thus learned about issues I didn’t see in mainstream media until months later.

Mainstream media may be accused of fake news when they leave out information to suit their bias. I believe in reading or hearing news from a variety of sources and then coming to a more educated conclusion.

Deborah Nissley

Fairmount

Gullibility of American voters has created this dilemma

I am sure all of you remember the horrific shooting of grade scholars and teachers at Sandy Hook, Connecticut.

This has been a goldmine for “thruthers” such as Lucy Richards and Alex Jones. They, of course, argue that the shootings never happened. That President Obama made it up in order to be able to confiscate your guns.

It does not come loonier than that. Should lies like that, clothed as “news,” be protected? I think not.

To make things worse, our President-elect, Donald Trump, has called Alex Jones, the main liar, and told him, “Your reputation is great, and I will not let you down.”

So our newly elected next president does not see anything wrong with this “fake news” story and thinks it should be protected.

It is craziness like this, and the “Obama is a Muslim” or “Obama is from Kenya” – and the gullibility of the American voters – that have presented us with this mess.

Roland J. Scheck

Salisbury

Americans first, we must always be on alert

Fake news is protected speech. We have protected less sophisticated forms since our beginning.

Fake news can be a danger. Propaganda isn’t funny.

Timothy Snyder, author and history professor, says, we all are vulnerable, “people on the right, people on the left, normal people,” and others. When any person gets to where fiction beats the facts, they have taken a step toward fascism.

Post-factuality is pre-fascist. Snyder thinks conservatives, in particular, should be alert to fact-indifference or the attempt to create a new reality.

I agree.

Jestin Coler, liberal-leaning owner of money-making multiple fake news sites, said, “We’ve tried to do similar things to liberals. It … never worked.”

It may be more difficult, however. I saw local liberals fall for the 9/11 conspiracy. Just the same, I note conservatives appearing to fall more often.